The History of Industrial Engineering Department

The foundation of Industrial Engineering Department goes back to offering a course named Factory Organization by Prof. Faruk Akün who was assigned to Machine Tools chair at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. This effort created a possibility to establish a Production Division within the same faculty. In the academic year of 1963- 1964 ITU Senate assigned a commission to search for a possibility to organize the Industrial Engineering Education within a separate department or faculty. The report of this commission was submitted to ITU Senate in 1968 revealing that firstly a department should be established then it should be transformed to a faculty. The first decision regarding the department of Industrial Engineering was taken in 08.05.1968 at the General Board of Mechanical Engineering. The official reports of General Board of Mechanical

Engineering and ITU Mechanical Engineering Board of Professors in 1969 declared intention of enrolling student to IE Department. However the decision of establishing IE department was not accepted because the relevant regulations are not reorganized as well as requirements related to academic staff were not satisfied. In the academic year of 1969-1970 ITU has changed the education system from five years to four years of BSc and two years of MSc and accordingly IE division within the Mechanical Engineering Faculty started enrolling 20 students. In the academic year of 1973-1974 post graduate education program has started.

In the documents prepared for the 50th anniversary of foundation of the Republic of Turkey and 200th anniversary of ITU also regarded IE as a separate faculty to be established and located in ITU Ayazağa Campus. In the meantime as a result of the effort carried on within Mechanical Engineering Faculty it was decided to apply for IE Faculty. However, it was found convenient to start preparation establishing Industrial-Management Faculty rather than IE faculty by a commission.

In 1982 with the enactment of the Law of High Education, numbered 2457, reorganization of the faculties started. As a result of these studies, the name of Management Faculty was changed to Faculty of Management Department of Management Engineering and Industrial Engineering were combined and connected to the Faculty of Management.